Things no one told me about owning a makeup studio.

Hello beauties,

How are we all doing? Time is really doing some fast forward stunts on us this year, we are already in the second quarter and gaining seriously on another. Well, it doesn’t really matter though as long as we are on the right track and doing better than how we were doing before.

Alrighty, let’s leave goals and all, it’s not the beginning of the year anymore, we will just jump straight into the subject matter. So it is no longer news that we have quite a sizable number of makeup artists at every nook and cranny, as some you are aware I am very passionate about the business side of beauty as a whole which is why this post actually applies to anyone working in the beauty industry whether you are in the nail tech business or you are a hairstylist.

Well, the latest trend I see now is owning a makeup studio like hours after some of us finished our training 🙂  , I mean common people, these things take time. I have owned a studio for a little over 5 years now and I  think it wont be out place to talk about it from my personal experience.

Here’s the most critical thing about owning a studio – the motive. Are you owning a studio because you want to be among the number?  or are you owning one because you have a well laid out plan and structure for the studio to pay for itself. Since I was born and now  I am getting old ( pardon the reference from our popular gospel chorus), I have noticed that some of them do not last beyond 2 years and why is this so? You answer please 🙂

Now let me share my thoughts with you, before you  decide to own a brick and mortar studio make sure you already have clients that are willing to come over to that  studio to have their makeup done, well unless you have a large number of home service calls you might just be alright.

One of the biggest headaches with running a studio is getting loyal staff, trust me when I say this could be a living hell .Are there still good and loyal staff ? yes , are they easy to find ? CAPITAL NO. Trust me as I speak from experience, you will end up being the sales girl,cleaner, marketer, social media manager and yes you will have to reply emails ,make calls , and do all other things that makes a studio function, did I forget the application? Mba, that is for you to do as well dearie 🙂 , so like they say in Zonga land – “Be Prepared”.

Also, although a personal thing , you need to be weary of time wasters that come around to do nothing  or are just around you to pick your brain, you end up consulting  without pay. Information might be free sometime but not all the time, years of knowledge counts for something.

You need to prepare your mind for what admin people call running cost – you will pay for electricity, rent ,generator repair, fuel/ diesel, local government levy ,furniture and fittings etc . All these bills will keep hitting you like “hurricane Damilola” .

You work more hours and practically don’t have a life, unlike what a zealous brother(Read here)  said about us makeup artists , ain’t no laying about dearies, you will work.I learnt as well that retail also help supports when the business is slow and covers for some expenses. Make sure you are on top of your inventory and you only sell fast moving products that won’t tie down cash in products.

Owing a studio doesn’t mean you are better off than those who are freelancing,a lot of multi billion companies run online business models and don’t own stores across the world. In a nutshell,if  you can handle it go ahead and if you can’t then another option would be to work with a brand like Zaron , House of Tara, MAC , Bobbi Brown etc.  or just freelance like some genius makeup artist st Jide ola  and Bimpe Onokoya .You can even decide to rent a space in an hair salon, nail tech studio or beauty supply store to test and  build clientele.

So with all we have gone through, before you open that studio, sit down and do your math,remember that you are in business to make money and not to show off how big your studio is  or how highbrow area your studio location is.The ball like they say is in your court 😉

I would love to hear from you , kindly share your experiences and thoughts below.

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Hugs and Kisses,

Shameless beauty addict,

 Misidreads